Let Me Know
by Lolligaggin
Summary: He didn't particularly know what motivated him to walk over a mile to tell her, but he did anyway. He woke her up at three in the morning to tell her, because it was the only way he could live with himself. InoNaru. Fluff and then some.
1. Just A Dream

Disclaimer: The concept (anime or manga) is not owned by me, the mere author who is typing this at the moment. I am just an insignificant little bug who won't stop having One-shot ideas. Bite me.

Rate: T- For curses

Story Type: One shot (?) I'm thinking of making a collection, who knows?

Genre: General/Romance

Pair: F/M (Ino/Naruto)

Beta: Me and this word processor

Author's Note: Today was alright, but I seriously wanted to read NaruIno and I couldn't find any. And so, like always, I have to make up for that loss. I don't know if I'll leave this as a prequel to a story or as a One-Shot. So, forgive me I guess. I seriously tried to take advice from an old story and be more "detailed" so let's hope I did that okay. Anyway, I love feedback and will read every single review three million times because I am an over-analyzing lunatic. Uh, enjoy! It's 12: 44 A.M.

Bang.

Usually, Ino could ignore the rather irritating bangs against her door. It wasn't a hard task; she even thought she would get away with it. It struck her oddly when the hard whacks against her front door filtered into her once peaceful mindset. "What?" A whimper broke her silence, her fingers probing for an alarm clock. Initially thinking it was the already time to get ready for to tend the flower shop. Banging against the wooden dresser at the side of her bed, she quickly yanked at the object. Ino squinted her eyes as she tried her best to read the neon letters,

"What the…" She fumbled through a few curses before sitting herself up. "It's three in the fucking morning." She growled, ready to throw a kunai through that front door of hers. "The damn nerve…who the hell could it be?" Feeling lethargic, she then flopped her body back onto her mattress, her head pressing against the soft pillow. The loud thuds that pounded against the door clicked mentally, she flinched with each loud clash. She could feel the hinges that were hopelessly supporting the door shake. "God, go away." Muttering under her breath, Ino threw the covers over her head, praying that the door attacker would only walk away.

After two minutes of relentless noise making, Ino lifted her head. Any and all words of blaspheme rolling out of her mouth. Again in her sitting position, she slammed her feet into their proper slippers, grumbling. "Who is even AWAKE at this hour?" Walking ever so slowly towards the door, she clenched her fists, more than prepared to knock out the perpetrator on the other side. Her fingers grazed against the cold door knob. Feeling irritated as well as crabby, Ino flicked her wrist to unlock the door, pulling it open with full force. That was when the words of anger finally spewed, "Who the HELL is this!" She cried out, behind the door that swayed forcefully. Cracking her knuckles, her eyes were fixated on the figure before her. Ino's eyes absorbed her surroundings, outlining the blonde hair of the unfamiliar person, the golden fuzz that was able to stick every which way.

And Naruto, the young man still held his fist, arranged to take another strike at the entry. "I…Uh…" His blazing ocean orbs were sealed shut, crinkling. Rouge reddened his features, stressing the fox-like lines on his cheeks. He placed his hand on his neck, rubbing it in an uncomfortable gesture. "Good morning, Ino." His voice immersed into a whisper, a nervous chuckle was followed afterward.

"…Good Morning?" Raising an eyebrow, Ino placed her hands on her hips as she took a step closer towards the fox demon. "Are you drunk?" Anger finally weakening from the growing curiosity, Ino continued to stare at the young ninja.

"No, I thought you were awake…that is to say…I uh…I came here to…" He stammered his gaze away from her. He was now fixated on the ground, mentally calculating the amount of flora that was vegetated along the side of her apartment. "…check up on you?" In an effort to hold onto his dignity, Naruto lifted his head to focus on Ino.

"Are you kidding me?" were the only words that she could muster. Thinking past scolding at Naruto, because she was too exhausted, she proceeded to rub the stress out of her eyes.

"Ino I…" He gulped, stare drifting away from Ino and onto the landscape to the side of the apartment.

"You…?"

With that said, Naruto quickly leaned forward, pushing his lips against hers. The sudden turn caused Ino to stumble backwards, her body hitting the door. So swift, she almost did not recognize that he had just kissed her. But even as the sleep and fatigue was raining down on her, she understood what just occurred. Completely surprised, Ino blinked wondering if this was one of her dreams. "Did you…I…" She brought her fingers to her lips, gliding her finger across her bottom lip to recreate the friction. She shivered at the sudden surge of emotion that hindered in her chest.

"…Love you," Delicate were the words, simple straightforward. Ino's face flushed, she twiddled her fingers, before glancing one last look

"Naruto I…" She finally spoke, hand reaching further. But when she took heed of her environment she realized that what was in front of her was not Naruto, it was only the paved roads of Konoha on a windy night.

She felt herself droop, all expectancy plummeting out of existence. "Love you too…" She finished before slowly returning back to her home.


	2. Hey You

A/N: No longer a One-Shot.

Ino tried to wave the embarrassment out of her face; it wasn't very relieving to be so flustered so early. She sneaked a glance at the image reflecting from the frozen section, nipping her bottom lip as she realized just how bothered she looked. Sulking, she sighed as she continued to push the cart through the aisles. It was Sunday morning, ten in the morning to be exact, and according to Miss Yamanaka it was too early-it could even be considered godless hours to her. But then again, she couldn't sleep from that dream that instilled on her hours before.

Dream, yes, because it was in fact that-a mere dream. After hours of contemplating on what exactly happened, Ino woke in a daze and settled it on the idea of last night being a dream. Of course Naruto would not dare wake her up to tell her something on those lines; in fact she wasn't much acquainted with him to begin with. Besides, she's been dazing for a while lately; maybe the whole Naruto incident was an example of just how much of a beautiful dreamer she's become.

"Yes," She nodded to herself, followed by an abrupt pause, for the third time that morning she caught a fleeting look on both of her sides. "Shit, I have to stop talking to myself…" Another attempt at counting the tiles ended, and Ino couldn't quite understand just what exactly was going on. Focusing was becoming a difficult task recently, and she didn't particularly know if she could handle it. 'Great…" Opting between mental thought and verbal, Ino chose to remain silent for the rest of her grocery shopping, at least to herself that is.

She could still sense it, his lips pressed against hers, the moment of anxiety riddling into her veins, the shock and surprise washing over her like water. Drifting her finger across her lips, she began to take this as a new habit. "Let's see…Skim…Whole…Half on Half? What the…" Ino clutched at the moistened carton, slightly cringing at how cold it was against her touch. Yet, as amusing as the drawing of the cow over the moon was, what caught her attention was the orange tint that seemed to glisten to her far left. Impulsively, she turned to see Naruto gaping in her direction, a familiar smile gracing his features.

And somewhere, inside that layer of cold toast and eggs, something panged against the flow of her heart beat, and it jerked her nerves. That orange blur that lightened the whole store had her attention, which was not something Ino could admit so easily. This time, her cheeks were flared, not mild. Somehow, she returns her gaze to meet the dull carton, blood rushing through her veins. 'Me, was he looking at me?' She thought to herself, she could feel sapphire boring into her subconscious. Ignoring urges to touch her bottom lip once more, she dared to take another quick glimpse at the young man.

Surprisingly, he remained at his post, lifting his arm to gesture a wave. Her eyes widened _what?_

Was he waving his hand at her, calling her over? Instead of standing, he began pace closer to her, eyes continued to be fixated on_ her_. Ino took a step back, her limbs trembling with unease. Staring into the dark pupils, outlining the faint streaks that graced his features, she could not fight herself to move another inch.

"Hey!" Naruto exclaimed, his grin growing, he fastened his strides, opening his arms. In that instant, shoving aside all common sense, Ino managed to slowly reach her hand out, that uncontrollable electricity pouring through her, smiling giddily at the handsome young adult only a few feet from her.

"H-"A small huff of air escaped her mouth, what was expected to be a greeting died in an instant as a certain a rush of pink blurred past her to embrace the blonde. Ino could feel shame sink into her soul, grating into the realization that Naruto was calling Sakura and not her. In front of her stood two long time friends reminiscing over their past childhood, and Ino found that she could not take it anymore. Leaving her cart, Ino picked up the dignity that she had left and escaped from that realm of humiliation, before anyone noticed.

"STUPID, stupid! I…I'm an idiot! Why the HELL do I care anyway! I didn't care two days ago, why should I even be concerned!" Ino laughed the restlessness off, ignoring the fact that she was alone. This was not the time to kill off old habits.

Sleeping really wasn't an option that night; she had jitters that had her bucking her legs as she covered her waist with the blanket that made no difference. Either way, she took glances to her side to stare at the direction of the door. Inside that conscious of her, in a guilty way, she wished it a knock would bombard her the way it had the night before, in her dream of course. Exaggerating her sigh, Ino formed a fist, punching the pillow that she clenched against her chest. "I guess not today."

Disappointed ran through her, she groaned at the thought of getting her hopes up. Still, even as the glow from the moon kept her company, she hated loneliness. "Aye, I guess maybe it was a dream." Ino whispered to herself in defeat, finally able to admit that there really were no chances with the loudest Shinobi in Konoha. Turning away from the window, Ino shut her eyes tight and prayed for sleep, and it complied with her wish.

DRRRIIIIINNNNNG

It dwelled on her; she flung her palm, smacking it against the alarm clock, cursing herself to install it a few hours before. She clicked on the snooze button and nuzzled against her pillow. Yet, the insane thing continued to ring

DRRIIIIIINNNNG

"What the-?" She lifted her head to look at the alarm clock, which read three in the morning. Tired eyes scanned the room to check for another buzzer, finding the phone to light in its glory. Without thinking twice, Ino pushed the talk button and settled back onto the mattress, "…Argh...Who is this?" She croaked into the phone.

"Hey you," A voice answered, husky and tired as well. It snapped the exhaust out of Ino; she quickly sat up, staring at the phone in sudden attentiveness.

"N-Naruto?" She could hear her heart beat thud alongside her ears.

"The one and only," A low whisper came through the receiver.

"What are you doing, it's three in the morning!" She shouted, latching onto her alarm clock to assure her theory.

"Ah, sweetheart, don't scream." A chuckle rustled into her senses. "I can hear you fine."

"Why are you calling?" She asked the obvious,

"To talk to you, silly,"

"That isn't…" Ino groaned, hating to play these stupid mental games, well no…it wasn't that she hated playing it was that she was so accustomed to being on the leading end of the stick. "That's not what I mean," She finished, clearing her throat, "What are you doing-"

"I love you." He interrupted with his rugged voice, filled with fatigue, hinting of drowsiness.

"What?" Her voice shrunk into a mere whisper,

"I said, I love you," And with those final words, a click was followed afterwards, the tone flaring her hearing. She didn't quite realize what exactly happened until the operator began to explain how to turn off the phone. Nevertheless, she was left wondering, once more, what had just happened.


	3. Naruto Wakes Up

A/N: Yo, I tried to be as descriptive as physically possible…well for the first few paragraphs…until the lights in my house WENT OUT! Heh, then since when I was writing the rest of the chapter I was in a goofy mood you could say Naruto's POV went from serious to goofy to serious. But then again, that's the Naruto we all know and love. It's 2:09 A.M. and I'm damned happy with how this chapter turned out.

P.S: This was a chapter to explain Naruto's odd behavior, I hope you catch it.

----

He could feel the shock split into his ears, recording her soft whispers into his mind. Smiling, he thought of her tender fingers clutching the cold phone, feeling her flinch from his tone of voice he allowed the nerves to splash against his chest. The thought of her blush that flattered her cheeks, sapphire piercing into his mind, deafening his conscious, he could not contain it much longer.

Yet, as his eyes fluttered to adjust to the heat of the sun radiating from the window, he groaned to find that it was over. His dream was over. Oddly enough, these dreams have been common, all focused on the love of a beautiful woman. Of course, Naruto was a romantic at heart, and each of _hallucinations_ fueled the attraction to love. Anyway, he reminded himself that he was still young, and a formidable bachelor at that.

"Aye…" He croaked, irritated with the lack of moisture in his throat. Stretching his arms over his head as his legs extended far out of the mattress. "Hmm?" He hummed, lifting his head to see that his usual position was far off this morning; his head met the side wall instead of the head post. "What have you been doing Naruto?" He chuckled to himself, scratching the loop of his ear. When he noticed that his hand was already occupied with a small object. "What the…?" He brought his hand to his face, squinting to read the screen of the telephone.

He chucked the phone out of his sight, breathing pace beginning to accelerate. His hands were scoping to ruffle his blonde bangs out of place as he squeezed his forehead, whispering "Not exactly…did I really?" Biting his lip, he couldn't believe he had just succumbed to his mental instincts so easily, without his intent. Anxiety crashed into his mind state as he overlooked all the names of females that he was somewhat familiar with. "Damn who could I have called? Sakura…jeez…Sakura would have killed me by now anyway, there's no way it could have been her. Phew," He wiped the sweat forming on his hairline, "Miss Hinata? Oh man…if it was Miss Hinata what could I have said to her…" He cussed loudly, ignoring the echoes that followed into the hallway. "Great,_ wonderful_," Spitting with sarcasm, Naruto sat up onto the mattress, ignoring the creaks of his old bed. Kicking his on his socks he proceeded into the bathroom, after stepping over a few bundles of clothing.

"I'm going to hear this from Neji, jeez I hope I didn't say anything rude to the poor girl," Naruto shoved a toothbrush into his mouth, glaring at himself angrily into the mirror. He watched the pupils in his eyes dilate, acknowledging that this was going to be his theme of the day; uneasiness. "But I didn't…if it's exactly what I dreamt about…damn, I knew something was odd when I could feel the whole thing…" He pondered with a busy month. "It didn't sound like Hinata though, she wasn't stuttering…" Proceeding to spit, he washed the inside of his month.

That had to mean, the night before was also true, he comprehended, that also meant that he already kissed the girl, that is to say if it was the same girl from the night before. Which could only mean…

He smacked his forehead once more, returning back to his bedroom. "What the _hell_! I thought it was just a bunch of dreams, turns out I was sleep walking. Now I feel like a moron," A discharge of profanity flew out of his month; he tripped over his jeans in his clumsy state. "But she knew it was me, she called me by my name, and she's not Hinata." He sighed in relief, mentally scratching her name off the board.

Without time to spare, he was already late to meet Sasuke for whatever the hell that boy wanted; it didn't really matter at the time.

Monday: Mid-Morning.

Ino lightly bit the straw, hearing the plastic crack between her teeth. Her leg shook that the end of her heels caused a tune with the marble floor. Blue eyes were fixated upon the reflection that met her through the main doors. It was a fancy café spot to meet, even for Miss Yamanaka, but she felt as if she had to say something, or talk to someone.

Her fingers fiddled with the blonde bangs that covered a part of her view, other times she would have scolded Shikamaru or Chouji for showing such worry. Of course, it wasn't mature. But now was not the time for pointless disciplines.

Crossing her legs, she sighed with relief to see Sakura walk through the glass doors. She lifted her arm to show just how far back from the public she was, and Sakura returned her gesture with a smile.

"I just hope Sakura doesn't think I'm crazy," Ino prayed through closed teeth before lowering her arm.

"Hey what's up Ino-pig long time, no see?" Her friend greeted her half heartedly, taking a seat across from her. Sakura hadn't had a genuine talk with Ino ever since they were children, so it shook her to know that Ino wanted to talk after calling in the middle of the night the night before.

It really didn't matter; she didn't have any missions until the next week, so basically she had all the time in the world for now.

"Yeah miss forehead, I know what you mean." She commented with a phony smile, but she knew Sakura could see passed that.

"So…what was the sudden call for?" Sakura picked up a menu and glanced through the refreshments.

"Uh…" Ino bit her lip, eyes suddenly dropping to stare at the hem of her pants. "I just wanted to talk, Sakura. I miss you, we haven't talked in years!"

"…" When Ino met Sakura's eyes, she could almost laugh at how freaked her friend's expression was. "…No? Really. Why did you call me so late? You sounded worried-"

Ino reached over to clasp her mouth over Sakura's face, "No, shut up! Don't talk so loud! Everyone will hear you…"

"Hmm, it really is big then. It must be something huge," A smile tugged her lips as Sakura returned to peeking at the menu.

"Kind of, I have a question to ask though…"

"Shoot."

"You're not interested in Naruto Uzumaki are you?"

She blinked, wondering what in the hell did _that guy _have to do with whatever Ino was saying. In fact Naruto and Ino hardly ever spoke to one another back when they were pre-teens. Suddenly, as her mind whirled into millions of thoughts, she beamed wickedly, "I knew it."

Ino blushed, her fingers grasping the edge of the table for her to lean forward, "It's not what you think! I bet! It's the other way around! I don't have a crush on Naruto if that's what you think! Hell…I don't even care about him! I was just curious!"

"Oh? You don't care, okay so why were you asking me? To see if he was available! Hah! I should have known, that's why you called me, man…you must be in love with him to be up all night thinking about Uzumaki! Don't get me wrong he's a cool guy…"

At that time, Ino grasped that asking Sakura for help was actually the last thing she should have done. Back when they were kids, back when Uchiha Sasuke fogged both of their minds, it was clear that Sakura was going to be the friend that one loved to hate but cared for all the same. Now that the Sasuke phase was over, and Sakura was preoccupied with Lee, Ino should have known better. Especially when half of the café was filled with familiar faces that all had their eyes on the screaming girls.

Ino sunk a few inches in her seat, eyes pleading for Sakura to quit it. It took a while before she got the hint, "Okay then, why did you call, _friend_?" She teased,

"He's been calling me, Sakura." Her gazed at the glass table, flinching to hear her friend's protests,

"Hah! Are you kidding? He would have told me then; I would have been the first to know…why….I am practically his best friend!"

"Well I don't know then." Ino quickly snapped, sitting herself back up, resting her chin on the palms of her hands. "Maybe you're not."

"Maybe you dreamt it up,"

"Dreams don't happen two times in a row. Especially with someone I hardly know."

"How do you know? Is it the same dream?"

"It's not a dream."

"But you said its Naruto right; Naruto doesn't even know you,"

Finding the comment offending Ino quickly arose, "Yeah well…he kissed me Sakura! He told me he loved me, and…I don't know anymore. I don't know." Watching Sakura's shocked expression, Ino's nerves shook, she found that it was about time to leave, and without ordering anything to eat, Ino muttered a goodbye under her breath before leaving. She ignored the eyes that seem to be glued to her form before walking out to the streets of Konoha. 'Great, _wonderful_, with the way everyone gossips in this town the whole world will know what happened to me by dinner time.'

----

"Nice idea-"

"Shut up."

"No, I'm not kidding. It really did seem like a genius notion, Dobe." Sasuke mocked him.

"Hey, why did you try to help me anyway, if you thought it was a dumb idea?" Naruto grimaced, glaring angrily at his friend. The two continued to stroll down the road, heading into town. Sasuke only shrugged, his focus shifting away from his friend. After a few seconds of silence, Naruto couldn't take the silence anymore,

"You thought we could have pulled it off right? That's why you helped me."

"…"

"Common Sasuke, you know I'm right. We were this close, this close! But I swear that Kakashi…he's going to take off that mask eventually. I swear it! If I convince Neji-"

"Yeah, as if Neji is going to help us…"

"Fine I'm sure Kiba would be up to it."

Sasuke shook his head; he couldn't help but smile at his idiot friend. This was about the millionth attempt to rip their former teacher's mask off, but Kakashi was always too quick and keen for them. No matter, eventually the man would crack…eventually…

"Now that Kakashi officially kicked our asses, what are we supposed to do?" Naruto frowned, kicking at a rock in front of him. "We could always bother everyone else." It wasn't boredom that bothered him; he could always find someone to pester. The record of every girl he ever talked to registered into his intelligence; he numbered them down into a few. Could it be TenTen? Sakura, even if he didn't really believe it was her although he hoped it was? Hinata, even if she didn't stutter at all? Ino? Ino didn't seem like the type of person to tolerate such passion,

It almost made him laugh, Ino was just as bad as Sakura when it came to temper, even worse. The way Shikamaru grumbled about her, it seemed almost impossible that she wouldn't have confronted him already. So…the one person who he had the least doubt had to be…TenTen.

"What are you talking about?"

"Uh, WHAT!" Naruto quickly covered his mouth, seeing Sasuke arch his eyebrow.

"What about TenTen?"

"What…You mean…I talked OUTLOUD!" The blonde tugged at his hair, embarrassed to know that he had no self control.

"…Yeah?"

"Uh…No! I didn't say anything, anything really important-I swear!"

Instead of pressuring the kid, Sasuke could only let his imagination wander, because asking Naruto any further was not a Sasuke thing to do, Sasuke of course wouldn't want to show that he cared and so…Sasuke proceeded to think about the enormous crush Naruto had on TenTen which didn't really exist.

"Hey guys!" Sakura called out from afar, waving her arm over to emphasize her presence.

"Sakura-Chan!" He replied in a sing-song tone, waiting for her to jog over to them.

"Naruto, I sort of need to talk to you for a second…"

----

He kicked off his shoes, settling his back onto the cold bed, as if it was a ritual. After speaking with Sakura, who didn't really have anything _important_ to say and just burst into giggles every once and a while, he decided that he had a long day. Especially with a few bruises that Kakashi gave him, even if it was expected. He sniggered at the memory of Sasuke becoming confronted in a noogie by none other than their old sensei.

He shoved his sleeping cap to cover his ears, yawning as he brought the blankets over his head. "Jeez, the way Sakura seemed to snicker and giggle, it looked like she was planning something…damn I hope Sasuke doesn't think that I like TenTen or anything because that isn't the case." After a few incoherent mumbles, Naruto took one last glance at his dark surroundings before drifting off to sleep.

It would be a few hours before he found himself stumbling over the clothes on the floor, a few hours before he finally confirmed that he was about to sleep walk again. But not tonight, not if he could help it.


	4. Super Sasuke Sleeping Scheme

A/N: This chapter is VERY non romantic. Could I say a…comedy relief? Yes, well this chapter is comedy relief for three chapters of DRAMA. I don't quite know if Sasuke is OOC, I tried my best to keep him in character but funny all the same. Any responses will be appreciated! I promise I'll read them a billion times! Thank you for all the reviews you guys, I love feedback.

P.S: I dedicate this chapter to my Cousin since it's his birthday. The fact is he doesn't quite know of my writing skills but he would appreciate it all the same. ; Plus, my birthday is coming up in 3 days, yay!

Chapter 4:

Sasuke arched his eyebrow, pulling the sleeping bag closer to his chest as he followed his friend from behind. "Tell me again why I agreed to this?" He asked sarcastically, slightly bewildered at how simple it was for Naruto to convince him to spend a night over his house so easily. His dark eyes gazed at the atmosphere above, taking notice of the abundant stars that radiated the night sky. He was slightly irritated after a few minutes, believing that Naruto was snubbing him.

"Relax; common…what the heck are you going to do at your place that's so _interesting_?" Naruto nudged him, grinning enthusiastically.

"…Anything but hang out with a dobe like you."

"Oh, but you're stuck with me," He beamed, hoping to lighten the apathetic mood of Sasuke's, "maybe even forever," he added.

Now in all honesty, Sasuke didn't mind spending a night over at Naruto's, it would only be the two of them, and even if it was rare for them to have a 'slumber party' it was always interesting having the blonde idiot around. Even if he didn't care to admit, Naruto was his closest friend. Which was why his whole 'Hey, Sasuke, how about you come over?' little idea concerned him. While Naruto was the spontaneous type of person, it was way past midnight. He appeared only a few minutes ago to persuade him to come along. Either Naruto was extremely isolated in his boredom, or there was something going on here.

Then again, he was always known for his practical jokes. Really, who in the world visits someone to drag them to their house? Something was wrong here…

"What are you doing, staring out in space and everything?" He broke Sasuke's modest trance, as the two headed in front of the small dwelling. "We're here you know."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes, suspicion riddling his instincts. Shortening his breath, he took a few seconds to pay attention to the chirps of crickets and owls that surrounded him. Clearly, if anything, this here had to be a trap.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Mentally Naruto gulped, knowing that if he showed an ounce of vulnerability he was done for. Sasuke could smell fear, almost like a dog. All he had to do was play his goofy self for a few more hours and if he played his cards right then he finally end up with a good night of undisturbed sleep. He kicked the door open, exposing a void of darkness from behind. "Go first,"

"Yeah right, I'm not an idiot. You go."

"What? Sasuke are you afraid of the dark?" He tried his best to revise years of adolescence in a matter of seconds, attempting to figure if Sasuke ever had a problem with the dark in any of their prior missions.

Sasuke's eyes widened, as if in defense, he wrung his nose in his shady stare, "No." He said simply, waiting for an explosive to set inside the house. Of course Naruto would stoop so low as to pull a prank, because this was Naruto he was judging at the moment! Perhaps, in that sick demented mind of his he would essentially find it humorous to physically harm the hell out of Sasuke, or so he thought. He was not an idiot, and he could see right through the 'friendship' excuse he tried to muster.

"Che, fine." A bit annoyed by his lack of explanation, Naruto pushed the door all the way through before entering, his fingers rasping at the near wall to turn the lights on. "Idiot Sasuke." He muttered under his breath, he turned back to witness his friend who was nonetheless positioned outside. "…Sasuke what the hell are you doing! Are you being dumb on purpose? Is this some plan or something…"

"You tell me."

"Hm, you seem to think I'm up to something don't you? Hah, you got it all wrong." He seemed unconvinced by his reassurance, "Fine Sasuke, you freaking paranoid maniac, what do you want me to do to prove it to you?"

"…Nevermind." He walked through the door, careful to flinch before he past through the entrance.

"Sometimes I wonder…" Naruto sighed, rolling his eyes.

"Alright, so I thought you planted a couple of exploding notes, I was wrong, shoot me."

"Now don't give me permission." He chuckled to himself, "Okay then Sasuke, I guess you could sleep here." He formed an imaginary line with his foot, gliding it a few inches from the door. His navy haired companion could only blink, taking a few seconds to soak in the odd rule.

"Uh, what?"

"Don't worry abou-"

"You're kidding…"

"Eh, not-"

"You dragged me across Konoha to tell me to sleep on the floor in front of your front door? You actually believed that I would pay attention to you? Yeah…" Sasuke sucked his teeth, walking past Naruto and into the hallway where he poked around, "Where's your room before you piss me off?"

"…Sasuke I sort of have to tell you something." Naruto jabbed his index fingers together, feeling the embarrassment settle upon his face.

"What?" His friend called from the room. Naruto only sighed, knowing that if he admitted that he was a sleep walker and that he didn't want to end up scaring a female acquaintance.

"Nothing."

"Meh," Sasuke tried to brush away the voice near his ear. He had just about enough of Naruto's voice for his nourishment, what clearly called for him was the sweet silence of sleep. As a result of refusing to sleep on anyone's floor he wound up taking up half of his friend's bed. Sleeping next to the loud ninja wasn't as bad as he initially thought it was. For a person who lived alone, Naruto had a huge bed that offered enormous space. Only that perceiving his useless chatter was something that he was not accustomed to, especially since he lived alone. After a while of answering his friend's ineffective life questions he had no choice but to ignore the rest of the babble for the night remaining.

Whispers were hindered as Sasuke finally relaxed his nerves, believing that he was accepting sleep. In a phase of sleep, Sasuke did not realize the track of time lost. However, as the loom of bliss loosened up his tensed torso, his run of peace confirmed over as soon as he felt a heavy lump roll over him and stumble onto the carpet floor. "Naruto!" He cried out, growling to emphasize just how angry he was. But there came no reply, only the movements of a limp figure in front of him that stumbled to reach the closed door. "Hello?" He called out, shifting his body to sit over the bed in order to take a better glimpse at Naruto. The pajama dressed young man fiddled with the door knob seconds before slipping the lock and walking through. 'What in the world?' Sasuke scratched his head, inhaling deeply to stir his conscious. "Naruto, you better be having some serious problem, or you will when I'm done with you." He declared, yawning as he followed the uncoordinated blonde.

Yet, as slow and cluttered as he did appear, as soon as Sasuke reached the end of the hallway what he witnessed was Naruto yards ahead walking in a staggering pattern through the entrance. "Naruto!" He rose his tone a few octaves, hesitating from his scolding to witness his friend's reaction. The young man garbled in his dialect, mumbling know nothings under his breath. It only furthered Sasuke's confusion. "Idiot! What are you day dreaming!" He called out, running to meet with the latter's slow pace. His palm pressed pressure against Naruto's arm, hanging on. "Snap out of it."

His feet ambled down the road, unaware of the cold base that they settled upon. Sasuke dashed forth ward, yanking on Naruto's sleeve but to no reply. The sudden release of clothing caused him to stumble back to keep from losing balance. "Damn it, it's too dark to be wandering about" An irritated grumbled escaped his lips. Quickly as he took a glimpse he saw the outline of a figure that persisted in his wandering. The lack of luminosity had Sasuke squinting to find a trace of path to follow Naruto, because his yells held no infliction, he decided to follow the feller as an alternative. It never crossed his mind that the _thing_ Naruto wanted to mention prior would lead to a situation like this.

Cool winds ripped through Sasuke's loose t-shirt, tickling his abdomen that allowed for nerves to flourish. Still, following Naruto in the lateness of night was not something that he frankly enjoyed. Somewhere he was reminded out of Kakashi-sensei's useless one liner quotes of wisdoms that attempting to wake a person in paralysis of sleep never ended well, especially one who was a Shinobi. Later than he expected, a few houses were beginning to come from ahead, with Naruto more than ready to barge his way through.

Sasuke panicked. He didn't quite know what to do, whether his fireball technique would prevent Naruto from waking up a few unsuspecting neighbors.

"Sasuke, help me with this" Naruto motioned for the window, turning to glare at Sasuke straight in the eye. The sudden verbalization shocked Sasuke, causing him to flinch with alarm. He gawked at Naruto, mouth agape as he observed the facial expression of his. It appeared as his friend was staring at him but right _through_ him all the same. As if he was a wall in Naruto's way. He was convinced that the boy was indeed wedged in a state of mind known as sleep walking.

At the same time, Sasuke was curious. Curiosity claimed him as he made his way closer to his friend. 'What's the worst that could happen?' He rationalized, 'I just want to know what all the fuss is about.'

"I have to get this window open, I don't want to wake her up, and I think this is her room."

"Who's room?"

"Hers, I want to tell her. I didn't think she heard me the first few times," A goofy smile spread across his lips as he lowered his head, embarrassed to meet Sasuke's , "I love her, Sasuke, I don't know why I just do."

Other times, Sasuke would have believed that Naruto was simply intoxicated, but not this time. There was something in his speech, it shook at him. It was unadulterated truth that just flowed out of his mouth, and it worried him the fact that Naruto's been sleep walking to TenTen's house, he presumed, more than once as he admitted. "Bedroom? Are you sure you want to do this? Really Naruto, there's something called setting and timing, clearly you have no perception of both-" Before Sasuke was finished with his lecture the echo of clutters brought him back to reality, "What the-?" Seeing Naruto's legs jut out of the window, out of reflex he held onto the limbs in his effort to pull it towards him. But it wasn't enough, he found himself becoming hauled into the opening alongside Naruto.

Thus, where all the fun began

"Shit-Naruto! What the fuck is wrong with you!" He felt the cold tiles under his already chilly body. The echoes bounced through the walls, affirming him that it was a small room.

"Wa?" Naruto moaned, pulling his body into a sitting position. "What the hell? It's cold!" He cried out, turning to see Sasuke glaring angrily at him.

"Shut up, Dobe." He whispered harshly

"Sasuke what the hell are we doing here?"

"…Don't even go there-"

"Is this some trick plan of yours?"

"…" He tried his hardest not to physically reach his arms to choke the other teenager. "No." He replied darkly.  
"…Woah, is this a bathroom?"

"Ding, ding, ding, he's answered correctly!"

"…Did you put me here?" Naruto stood up, stretching as he flinched from his soar back. "No really, where are we?"

"You think I know?" Sasuke whispered back, sitting atop of the closed toilet seat. "I just followed your dumb ass here!"

"You mean I…shit!" He cried aloud, forgetting that he was to remain quiet. Banging his palm onto his forehead, he sighed heavily. "Damn it Sasuke, I've been doing this for days, I don't know why. I don't even know _who_ it is to."

"Yeah well, I didn't know you had an infatuation for TenTen."

"TenTen? So we're in TenTen's house?"

"I DON'T KNOW!" Before Naruto could retort both pairs of eyes suddenly became fixated onto the light that shed through the bottom of the door. Hearing footsteps, they both returned to gape at one another in a confused fashion.

"_What do we do?"_


	5. And all that Jazz!

A/N: I was reading this story…and inspiration smacked me in the face. I rather improvised the whole way to be honest. Actually, that's what I do with everything, in case you haven't notice. I apologize for not updating; I blame it on sloth and laziness. Anyway, this took me a few hours, and it's 2:10 A.M, the best time to finish my chapters, don't you think? As always, I love feedback, any would be appreciated.

P.S: Okay in order for this to work, the super ninja agilities have been dumbed down…hehe

8888888

Chapter 5

"_What do we do?" _The cold question was asked.

"Shut up." Sasuke swiftly clutched Naruto's mouth, as he made a leap into the bathtub, sinking as low as he could, bringing Naruto closer to his bosom. He crashed onto the hard surface, cringing as the splotches of liquid began to seep into his clothes. Suddenly Sasuke attempted his best to think of all the monotonous speeches of Kakashi-sensei, one that included the art of silence. The way his nerves flowed wildly in him, his sight hooked upon the footsteps, although slight pitter-patters, grew into deafening pacing.

STEP, STEP, STEP

No, Naruto was not at the greatest comfort. His eyes enlarged, the fact that his friend was covering his mouth only fueled his anxiety. He mumbled a few words, lifting his head to see Sasuke pass him a threatening glare. He gulped; his friend was not at all impressed with this situation at all. Not that it was a compromising for him, either. Really, did his friend have to be all touchy feely with him?

Still, it was quite difficult for him to breathe when his heart was prepared to detonate. Sweat began to accumulate at his forehead, as he laid on Sasuke. His hands jittered at the very thought of the girl who had stole his heart, literally without his acknowledgement. He did not know who was behind that door, there was a piece of him that was tempted to just crash through the door and expose himself, 'Walla!' He thought to himself. He was not much of a patient person.

Sasuke cursed under his breath, shoving the curtains as best as he could; only achieving to cover a portion of them both.

The door creaked heavily, as the hallway light swayed past both the boys faces before the bathroom light was flicked on. He chewed on the inside of his cheek, jammed between yearning to disappear and lingering on all the same. The way Sasuke's palm jerked with the sight of luminosity, it proved to leave Naruto with further panic.

He widened his glare, blazing cerulean eyes fixated on the form in front of him. Raven orbs glowered down at him, he could feel the awkward vibes coming from his friend.

She had sunflower blonde hair, his eyes traced down her golden tresses. With his dazed reasoning, he could not put a finger on the female that was in front of them both. However, his nerves consumed him, and the uneasiness he felt only intensified, along with the pulse that hammered in his ears.

Yet, in all the madness, the resonance of Sasuke's heart clouded him even more so.

"Che, Sakura has the nerve." Ino ranted, shoving the toothbrush in her mouth. She gawked at the reflection in the mirror, wondering why, at such an hour, she had not even attempted her forty winks. "It's this late and I can't go to sleep." She continued, pulling out the clear utensil from her bottom jaw, "I'm not doing this again." She scoffed, apathetically chucking the object over her head.

The toothbrush landed on Naruto's chest with a clang, he flinched at the soft bang that hit him. His thoughts raced past him, could it really be…?

He must be mistaken….

She turned to set herself atop the concealed toilet. Her legs quickly crossing, elbows waited upon her thigh to support her chin. Naruto caught her features; he tensed at the sight of her dim stare. Her sad, beautiful eyes reflected off the faint bathroom light. He wanted to reach out to her, but chose to stay put. "I can't believe I'm waiting for him today. I'm a lunatic." She whispered, slightly. Ino sighed, the twinge of loneliness settling upon her. "I don't like him, who am I kidding?" She chuckled, brushing her bangs away from her face.

This could not be….

As abruptly as she arrived, she left. The door was closed behind her with a firm push, and the lights were extinguished. All was well, as he would have thought. If it was not for the guilt, in which he felt.

"Ino Yamanaka." Said a bewildered Sasuke, pushing Naruto away from him. Frankly, he had had just about enough of tonight, the very thought of explanation to the public, to his sensei…he was not very enthusiastic to embarrassment, especially to Kakashi's eminent sarcasm. All he asked for was a good night's sleep. "Well, that was interesting." He blurted out, brushing away the drips of water upon his arms. He turned to cock a pleasant smirk in his friend's direction, only to find him inching his way towards the wooden door.

"Naruto, what the hell are you doing?"

"Sasuke I can't leave her like that-"

"Oh? You can't? I don't see why you can't." He sneered, watching Naruto's _pathetically _sad frown was just so pitiful; he would have laughed if he did not know just how serious he was. "Fine, I'm not saving your ass next time." He added, before turning towards the direction of the window. "Goodnight."

Naruto bit his lip before exiting the bathroom. This was obviously a stupid, _stupid_, retarted beyond all reasoning act but he could not help himself. He smiled weakly, knowing that there was a dangerous line he was about to cross, before heading towards the direction of the opened door. The only source of luminosity being the various windows implanted through out the house. He figured that she would was not quite asleep yet.

He wiped at the collecting sweat under his palms. Really, he was insane to do something so absurd. Nevertheless, it had to be, correct? He loved her, his subconscious loved her. The way he would find his way to her when he was asleep. The way her distress influenced him so.

So, there went his complete philosophy on love, gone with that one-step. He walked onto her doorway, his mentality completely void on what to exactly say to her. Shaking under his clothes, he took another step, turning to face the bed at the right side of the room, knowing that there was no looking back. Eyes closed he hesitated a few moments before responding, "Ino I…" Slowly his eyes fluttered, hoping that she would not have already performed some sort of crazy seal to kill an intruder. That was when he fully recognized the empty bed in front of him, pillows collapsed onto the rug floor, covers swept through out the entire room. "What?" He spoke, completely surprised yet disappointed all the same. He scratched at his blonde spikes, "…Where is she?" Asking quietly into the air, he could feel the false hope dwindle before him.

He took one last gulp of air, hoping to bring himself to some sort of composure. With the heel of his foot, Naruto made a full turn around, hands resting upon the top of his fair-haired head. "TAKE THAT!" A loud cry followed, with a loud clank. A blow to the head, and Naruto had no time to react. His features altered from alert to droopy, as his eyes slowly rolled back. His head wobbled as the rest of him crumpled from the hit. The finger he held up to point towards Ino's withdrew and he fell at her feet. She jumped back, tightening her grip on her pan, grimacing down at the stranger below her.

"Yeah you freaking pervert! Who do you think you were messing with!" She cried out in victory, turning to flick the light switch on. A sudden gasp escaped her when she realized just who was knocked out on the floor, the very person she was waiting for. Perhaps, she should have derived a conclusion, oh well.

"Naruto!" She took a step back, unexpectedly feeling a solid form behind her.

"Hey I…" A rough voice murmured, without much judgment, the pan flew over her head, wailing upon the other figure in front of her. Along with another clunk, the other person also reacted similarly, falling face front inches into her room.

The frying pan was dropped carelessly to the side. Ino's hands covering the mouth that wanted to scream in shock. "Sasuke?" She asked herself, kneeling down before him to slip her fingers in his hair. He fell limp, out cold by the expression on his face. She frowned, knowing that this was not going to be a happy story in the end.

"Naruto…" Ino whispered, crawling towards him. Besides the rug burn that blistered her knees, the sudden guilt washed over her like water. Her hand reached for his unconscious one as she pressed her cheek against his knuckles. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" She pleaded, seeing drips of blood slowly ooze from his bright locks.

And that was some night.


	6. Story To Tell

A/N: I tried with Sasuke's character, I really did. I apologize if he's OOC but c'mon people he's not Emo all the time, no matter how people label him as such, at least in MHO. And I wanted to end this both romantically and light heartedly because…Naruto being serious makes me sad. Thank you for all the support, and I'll see you again next time!

……………………………...

Chapter 6:

**Fluff. **It was indescribable.

Something soft he guessed. Mushy, uncomfortable and awkward but tempting all the same.

It brought such a sensation down his abdomen, he could feel himself smile at the thought. Almost like take the first few sips of ramen with Iruka, or with Kakashi and Team Seven when his sensei actually felt generous, oddly enough.

And as he began to slip back into consciousness he could feel a vivid light gleam in his eyesight, stinging his vision. The outlines in front of his blurred temporarily, the sudden scent of someone else's house filling his lungs. Promptly, as soon as his chin lifted ever so slowly, the intensity of an approaching headache knocked him, almost instinctively he brought his hands onto his temples, grunting to keep himself from howling screams of pain. "What the…" First notion that struck to mind was that he must have gotten drunk, and his intoxication must have landed him in some one else's house. Which was quite unbelievable to say the least, because as far as he knew he could hold his Sake. But then again, the last event that crossed his mind was being with Sasuke, and the way the two liked to compete, of course such judgment would eventually lead him way off course.

Thankfully, either he became accustomed to the soreness or his kyuubi proved to be helpful. It took a few blinks to realize that the hammer banging on the back of his head imagery was finally put to rest. "Ah, well it wasn't that bad…" He chuckled to himself, tugging at the soaked towel that was placed on his forehead. He guessed that people were just very helpful in these sort of situations. _Wait a second_. It could not have been Sasuke, no way, the man would never help him only if it was just necessary for livelihood. And this did not seem like a life or death situation.

His hands reached to pull the covers that were doing nothing but dehydrating him. "Aha…" Instead of reaching covers, however, Naruto's fingertips settled upon a smooth fingers that spread upon his stomach. He twitched, the first reaction being fear. Perhaps it was not fear, perhaps it was the nerves just ripping themselves away from him like some sort of torture device.

"What?" He panicked, lifting his neck to witness blonde locks flow throughout the covers atop of him. Ino continued to sleep, hands serving as pillows for her head as the rest of her adjusted to his body. She snored softly, peacefully resting herself. "Ino?" Suddenly, like every other time he awoke, the Ino-related events rushed through him, and he realized just what he got himself into.

In some off turn of events he ended up in her bed, in her room, completely dressed. Not that…he would…His face reddened at the sick thoughts that ran through his intellect. Trying his best to completely delete the prior somewhat perverted thoughts, he returned his gaze at Ino, who did not stir from his sudden jerks and yanks.

And, watching her in her passive state, caused him to calm his nerves as well. His muscles relaxed, and he smiled at her.

"So, are you satisfied yet?" A voice from the far left caught his ear, with a twist of the neck he saw Sasuke's sarcastic glare shooting an awkward bullet right through him.

"Sasuke? You're still here?" Naruto whispered, surprised to see his friend who previously vowed to leave him in the dust. "Boy, are you a sight for sore eyes!" He shuddered forgetting of the sleeping figure below him. "How come you're here-?"

Sasuke crossed his arms, leaning against the wall, his body adjusted under the mattress that was fixed into the carpet. Dark orbs lifted to meet at the sight of light blue that began to peer through the mesh of sky. Obviously, the morning hours were arriving. "Just recently," he tapped his fingers against the painted wall. "Did you understand exactly what happened or do I need to explain it to you?" He turned to lock eyes with the other man.

"Okay, okay…first thing," Naruto grinned, his index fingers lifting, "Sasuke you're quite the friend for following me even though this whole thing was crazy, I gotta admit, that takes some guts. Thanks buddy."

Sasuke stared at him, at first blankly, he then shifted his gaze towards the floor, a slight blush settling under his eyes, "You're an idiot, Naruto."

"That may be so, but you're an idiot's best friend."

"…"

"Hey at least she put you to bed too. You know it shows that she cares…" By the death glare Sasuke was giving him he decided it was his time to confess. He gulped, finding this situation to be embarrassing and awkward. "You know she knocked us out pretty good." A few seconds of silence and he continued, "Okay, okay Sasuke, I'm sorry for getting us into this mess. This is going to be some kind of story to tell, but I…" Naruto turned away from Sasuke, the arms that held the rest of his body on either side shook, "I love Ino." He shot his friend a cheesy smile.

"Obviously," Sasuke snorted, instead of pushing forth with the awkwardness which he knew there was plenty of time for that later, he sent him a reassuring smile. "You may be right, but," He rubbed at the back of his head, lifting himself from the bed, "You're going to have to tell it yourself. I think I've had enough of this whole thing." He shook his head, bewildered at the sight of Ino and Naruto. "Keep this in mind, I had nothing to do with it." He added, slowly strolling passed the two, as he headed towards her bedroom door.

"Wait, Sasuke." Naruto called out, hand lifted in an attempt to catch his friend's attention.

"Hmm?"

"Thanks." Another full grin was plastered on his lips as he watched his friend chuckle before exiting the room. As soon as Sasuke was out of sight, Naruto hung his head, sighing to relieve all the tension he was feeling at the moment. So much, he fell back once again, exhaling rather loudly. Little did he know that the pretentious behavior was enough to wake up Ino.

"Hey, you woke up?" Came the first words that blurted out of her mouth, she blinked taking in her surroundings, a yawn ran through her. Sleepy glazed eyes stared at the supposedly injured Naruto. By that stare, he felt himself flush, even if her hair was tangled and the outlines of a few fingers were engraved into her skin, it was just natural beauty to him, rare…five in the morning magnificence.

"Yes, I did."

"Oh? I'm glad." She reached over to slip her fingers in his hair, a few playful scratches were given, a warm smile graced her lips. And he relaxed at the sight, oddly, he guessed that she must have forgotten the whole thing. Yet, the once caring touches soon turned into tugs of anger as Ino grasped onto a chunk of his hair, pulling him closer to her. The affectionate gaze in her intent vanished, her teeth barred she began to yell, "Because I just wanted you to be _conscious_ for this!" Her eyes narrowed, as her occupied hand, which seized a fistful of cornflower locks. Her idle hand raised itself, above Naruto who yelped at the unguarded full blown attack that was besieging him. At the sight of a oncoming slap, he cringed; the set of unspoken laws on the matter of never placing a hand on a woman hit him over the head.

After all, he guessed he deserved it, in one perspective he could appear to be a stalker, or even a tease. But he felt that she had to acknowledge that it was not perversion that swept through him when he laid eyes on her. Therefore, he chose to just take the hit, he shot a momentary look towards her lifted arm, a frown gracing his lips.

She paused, her grip on his hair loosening, the hand that was meant to slap him held his cheek firmly, as she pulled him into a bruising kiss, smashing their lips together. Unexpected, Naruto stood perfectly still, in an attempt to figure out what exactly was going on. The echo of clicks and clacks of her tongue running into his and he could not help himself but finally participate in what he wanted for so long. Warmth flowed through his body, he felt himself unwind under her touch, his hands acting upon impulse, slowly taking hold of her waist, in an effort to bring her as close to him as possible.

As soon as he tried, she pulled away. She brushed her fingers across the whisker lines of his cheeks, he felt his skin burn under contact. He stared, in utter astonishment, as spontaneously as this whole scenario was, he wished she was not just taunting him. Glazed orbs, he remained silent, feeling all chances of ever being with her slipping away.

"You're crazy Naruto." She whispered, her breath brushing against his lips, shivers danced down his neck, and he presumed to be at her ever beck and call. Ino observed his expression alter from shock to shame in very little time. A grin formed on her face as she lightly kissed his lips, once again pulling away before he could react. "What time is it? I think it's 5 in the morning. And for the past few weeks I think you've been stalking me, when I put my finger on it," She watched as his face reddened furthermore, she smiled at his flushed appearance, she brushed her lips against his swollen mouth, "But now I have you all caught, and I just want to say one thing." She cupped her palms on either side of his face, her forehead leaning against his as she peered into the bright cerulean.

"What is it?" He spoke, his breath pushing against her blonde bangs. His patience was no more, and he had to know whether this was a squander of a joke or if…

"I'm sorry I hit you with the pan, really." Sincerity clear in her tone, she brought her arms around his neck, glancing down to see that without her awareness, he brought her upon midsection. Sly move indeed.

A blank stare was returned to him, crimson lines jolted upon her cheeks like electricity.

"It's alright,"

So close. They were so close. Their breaths meshed together, tickling one another. And in yet, as their arms laced, their bodies collided, neither could find the strength to address the words, in fear of the unknown. Of what might or could happen.

"I wouldn't hurt you." He answered, clearing the lingering silence that seeped into the tone in the air. He quickly could feel embarrassment settle in his abdomen, finding that statement rather strange, "That is to say I…" He stuttered through a few incoherent mumbles. This was not going to be easy for him, he turned away from her, knowing that she was going to find him to be utterly insane soon enough. "I mean…Ino I-"

"Shut up." She chuckled, "I know." She added, reassuring him. "I wouldn't hurt you either,"

"So you're not mad about all of this?"

"It's pretty romantic, what you did. Even if it was interrupted a couple of times." She answered. "No, no I'm not mad."

"…So what does this mean?" Okay, so patience was not his forte. He peered down at her, his expression perplexed and bewildered.

"It means, you don't have to crawl out of my window anymore."

**End.**


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